Always Ready

摘要

For more than 220 years, the U.S. Coast Guard has lived up to its motto: Semper Paratus — Always Ready. But how long can that continue when the service is continually underfunded and its value to the nation, frankly, under-recognized by lawmakers and the public? Even as its obsolete cutters, boats, aircraft and support infrastructure continue to age, "America's Maritime Guardian" in 2010 completed what the Coast Guard commandant called an "exceptional operational year by any standard." In testimony June 23 before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation subcommittee on oceans, atmosphere, fisheries and Coast Guard, Adm. Robert J. Papp Jr. noted that the service led the federal response last year to the BP Deep-water Horizon oil spill, first in searching for survivors of the initial explosion and then in working with government partners and industry to contain and clean up the spill.